I'm Becky - a Northern Virginian who dreams of the country but could never *really* be far from a city. Minimalist. Yoga and nail polish lover. Bookworm. Miscarriage Survivor. Infertility Warrior. Prefers Etsy over the mall. Crazy in love with my husband. Inspired by living simply and intentionally. Firm believer in finding joy in life's little moments. Welcome!

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Sep 29, 2015

The fifth month

He:

*Has been
exploding with new skills and discoveries on a daily basis the past week
or so! This includes: reaching for our faces, starting to snuggle in
and give hugs, rolling over like it's his job (he was doing it
occasionally, but now it's a constant thing), and teeth!

*Has
two teeth, and I think is working on a third - this happened in less
than a week's time! So far he's been fussier and clingy, but last night he took forever to go to sleep and was up every two hours, so
here's hoping this next tooth pushes through and then we have a bit of a
break.

*Is discovering everything. It's so fun to
watch him experience things. For instance, he still thinks ceiling fans
are interesting, but they are no longer the most amazing thing
ever - that's reserved for going up and down the stairs. (No really,
when we get near the top, he starts waving his arms and gets all
excited - it's fantastic!)

*Has a few favorite toys - but I
use the word toys loosely, because one of them is simply a framed
picture of the three of us on one of our end tables; he'll lock onto it
and just stare and smile! Others include the plastic domo cup we use to
rinse him in the tub, and the stuffed animal we call creepy monkey. (If
you could hear the laugh, you'd understand). Also, his feet. Feet are the best, and apparently quite tasty!

*Loves baby yoga - I have this book,
and I do a series of poses with him every evening before bedtime. Even
when he was younger and didn't seem to pay attention I'm glad I kept it
up, because now even if he's fussy, I'll put him down, rest my hands on
his tummy, take a few cleansing breaths, and he instantly calms down.
(When my sister saw this, her response was, "this is like some Jedi mind
sh*t!")

*Still hates being in the car. HATES. it. *Sigh*

*Loves
fall. No, really. He gets crazy excited every time he sees the wreath
on our door, and taking him outside is a sure fire way to calm him down
if he's cranky. Almost everyone on our street knows Parks now, and even
when I pass them when I don't have him with me, they'll smile and give
me a wave.

*Still wants to be sitting up all the time - I
got a tub that has a seat where he can be upright and all is right with
the world again. (i.e. he no longer screams while I'm giving him a
bath). Thank you, Amazon Prime.

She:

*Has
finally been successful at babywearing! A few friends loaned us several
different carriers but for so long Parks wasn't having it. He tolerated
the Moby (essentially stretchy fabric), but he's outgrown that now. God
bless Mom friends I can text because someone suggested a Beco Gemini
carrier, and then told me about a Facebook group where I could buy one
gently used. I got one for a third of the cost and you guys? GAME.
CHANGER. I don't know if it's just because he's older and is into seeing
more things now, or if it's truly that he loves this carrier
specifically, but this is how we take walks most nights, and we've even
done a few grocery store trips. It has been so refreshing to feel like I
can actually go out with my son.

*Feel like I've got a
better handle on this whole parent thing...and then teething happened.
Sheesh! I've realized teething disrupts everything (naps, eating,
bedtime), and I can only hope there will be breaks of "normal" every so
often in between the teeth coming through.

*Still struggles with exclusively pumping. Right now my biggest struggle is
in the evening - the pump where I'm by myself with Parks. Ever since he
started teething I'm lucky if I can keep him entertained for half the
time I'm pumping. He just wants to be held, and I can only do so much
for him. If I could drop that pump, I would but it goes back to the more I pump the more my body produces so if I did drop that
one, my supply would dip as well. This is absolutely the hardest part
about being a mom for me right now, and I'm frustrated I don't have a
viable solution.

We:

*Have
started a little tradition of sharing pictures and videos during my
night pumping session before bed. A lot of times it's not easy to send
each other the pictures we take of P, so we enjoy them together which
has been fun.

However, we are pretty good about texting or calling when Parks does something
hilarious - if we're both not there we want the other one to be the
first to hear about it! For instance: when Parks wakes up from a nap he
looks around, and if he doesn't see anyone he'll lift his legs and just
repeatedly slam them onto the mattress of the pack and play, until we come over, and then he grins.

*Had a big conversation about being more intentional with each other
so our relationship doesn't get lost in the shuffle. It's so easy to
just go through the motions - especially when we're both exhausted and
working. Our anniversary is next week, so we're both taking the day off,
my mother-in-law is generously watching Parks for us, and I'm looking
forward to just relaxing and reconnecting with Ben.

*Experienced our first car accident with Parks. It was actually just Ben
and him, they were at a stop light and were rear-ended but it was less
than 15 mph, and there's not even damage to the other guy's car. (Damage
to the one we just bought though, of course). Ben and Parker are both
perfectly fine, but I cried sporadically the rest of the day it
happened. Talk about perspective.

Oh Bubba! Five months! Pretty soon you're going to be
half a year and then one before we know it! You are so much fun these
days, so we're trying to savor them as best we can - we love you so
much!

I can not believe he is already 5 months old! Where did the time go? He is so darn adorable! I hope that you get a break from the teething process soon as I have heard how hard that is on kiddos! That is exciting that he rolls over now. I love all of the photos you included in this post. He's just the cutest little guy and he has the best skin! I just want to cuddle him so badly!!

5 months, AHHHH! and CUTER THAN EVER. I'm so glad you and Ben are going to get a fun day off together, definitely important!I love that you share videos and photos during your night pumping session. So much fun and good for pumping- I always watched videos of Max while I was pumping at work when I needed to relax. I hope Parks decides to make that night time pump easier on you sometime soon! Just a reminder, you are amazing!!! <3